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07 March 2018
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In February 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada struck down the Criminal Code prohibition on physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia.
 
In June 2016, the federal government’s medical assistance in dying (“MAID”) bill became law. By the end of June 2017, more than 2,000 patients had committed suicide or were killed via MAID.
 
While many physicians in Canada object to physician-assisted death because they believe in the sanctity of human life and that life should not be intentionally taken (Ex 20:13), they face increasing pressures to participate in MAID at the expense of their personal integrity and in violation of their morals and beliefs.
 
The Supreme Court had stated that legalizing euthanasia does not obligate physicians to provide it. And the preamble to the federal legislation on MAID says doctors can refuse to participate in any part of the process if they object on moral or religious grounds. 
 
But then the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) instituted a policy which says that doctors who have “conscientious objections” to providing services like MAID or abortion are still obligated to provide “effective referrals” to doctors who are willing and available.

An effective referral involves directly connecting the patient to someone who will kill them, making them complicit in the act. This is unconscionable for those who hold the conviction that each life is a gift from God and that they are accountable to Him, as their “brother’s keeper (Gen 4:9),” for the life of each patient.

From each human being, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of another human being. (Genesis 9:5)

This policy clearly violates religious freedom, freedom of conscience, and equality. In June 2017, the EFC and others intervened in support of an EFC-affiliated organization, the Christian Medical and Dental Society of Canada, along with two other physician groups and five physicians, to challenge CPSO’s policy. 
 
Sadly, on January 31, 2018, the Ontario Divisional Court ruled that physicians are compelled to participate in services like MAID and abortion regardless of their moral convictions. They do not have freedom of conscience or religion to refuse to be involved in these procedures and must make effective referrals and perform the act in emergencies. The justices said that the violation of Charter rights, while serious, is justified because providing access to these services is more important.
 
This ruling means that objecting doctors may have to change the way in which they practice medicine to avoid being confronted with moral dilemmas and attacks on their conscience. They may have to switch from individual, private practices to hospital or group-based practices that have doctors who will make referrals. They may have to reject rural practice in favour of urban practice, or move to a different province altogether. They may have to change from practicing family medicine or palliative care medicine to practicing sports medicine or dermatology, or to exit the medical profession altogether. In the end, patient care will suffer.
 
Consider what the state of health care might look like in the very near future. When you or a loved one is nearing end-of-life, will you be able to find a health care professional who believes that every human life, regardless of age or infirmity, is valuable and worth protecting? Or will you face pressure to hasten your death or the death of your loved one?
 
The doctors and their associations are currently reviewing their options regarding an appeal of the court’s ruling. We will stand with them.
 
At the same time, euthanasia advocacy groups are threatening court action against faith-based hospitals, nursing homes and hospices – be they Jewish, Baptist, Catholic or others – that are refusing to allow medically assisted deaths on their premises. They provide palliative care options and pain management for terminally ill patients or residents, but not medically assisted death. Instead, they offer to transfer patients who request assisted death to consenting institutions.
 
The issue is whether publicly funded health care organizations can continue to opt out of procedures like MAID or abortion because they uphold the sanctity of life. Can the courts or the governments force them to provide these services? Will religious facilities no longer have any place in the Canadian heath care system?
 
We must take a stand for the freedom of medical professionals to heal and not kill, and for the ability of health care facilities to honour that same mission and purpose. This is crucial if we want health care providers and facilities that share our beliefs around the sanctity of human life.
 
Doctors should be able to practice medicine with integrity as Christians. We need your help to ensure that the Charter rights of health care workers and faith-based facilities are protected. Please partner with us. Your prayer and financial support are crucial!

Sincerely,
Bruce Clemenger
President


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